In July 2018, Joyce Grant Scott joined Southeast Arkansas College as the Dean of Nursing and Allied Health. As an experienced nursing educator and clinician, Dean Scott wasted no time evaluating and reviewing procedures to promote division programs while increasing the quality of services

In her short tenure, she has assisted in the preparation of successful re-accreditation site visits for two departments and submitted required documentation to the Arkansas State Board of Nursing (ASBN) and Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) in anticipation of revitalizing the RN program. She has reactivated the college’s Phlebotomy program and is on target to roll out the Sterile Processing and Medical Coding programs in the Spring 2019. She is also working with nursing faculty to make substantive revisions in the curriculum of the Registered Nursing program, pending ASBN approval, to accept students in the Summer of 2019.Scott’s program responsibilities include Practical and Registered Nursing, Radiologic Technology, Respiratory Therapy, Surgical Technology, Emergency Medical Technology, Paramedic, Phlebotomy, and Nursing Assistant/Home Health Aide. Scott will be working to expand these programs as part of SEARK’s commitment to patients and healthcare providers of the region.

SEARK President Steven Bloomberg stated, “Dean Scott brings to our Nursing and Allied Health Division a great degree of experience and I have complete confidence in her ability to grow and improve the program.” Bloomberg also stated, “She is here because she cares about the students and in just a short period of time has shown her passion in reviewing and reviving needed programs.”

According to Dean Scott, “We are diligent in identifying areas where we can grow and improve the quality of programs for our students. There is a critical need for healthcare professionals in Southeast Arkansas. SEARK College is committed to graduating students who can apply necessary skills, critical thinking, and sound clinical judgement in practice to meet the recruitment and retention demands of local health providers.” Beyond the classroom Dean Scott is dedicated to developing and fostering collaborative partnerships with local and regional organizations to meet community needs. She is passionate about addressing mental health needs of vulnerable students during their college experience, as well as meeting some of their basic needs.

Prior to joining the SEARK College team, Scott served as the nurse manager at Birch Tree Communities, an outpatient mental health facility in Benton, AR. In 2016, she received the Practitioner of the Year Award. Prior to joining Birch Tree Communities, she served as Associate Professor of Nursing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where she was instrumental in the development, design, implementation, and accreditation of the RN-BSN on-line nursing program. In 2008, while an instructor UA-Little Rock, she was nominated by Birch Tree Communities Inc. to receive the Community Service Award from the Mental Health Council of Arkansas for working on behalf of persons with mental illness. Most of Scott’s professional nursing career has been at Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff. There she served in many roles, such as staff nurse, charge nurse, unit supervisor of the intensive care unit, and levels II and III coordinator in the school of nursing for many years.

Dean Scott holds an Associate Degree in Nursing from the Arkansas State University, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, a Master of Science Degree in Nursing from the University of Central Arkansas and has post-graduate doctoral hours from Northcentral University.

Dean Scott is a member of the Organization of Associate Degree Nurses (OADN), the National League for Nursing (NLN), the American Nurses Association (ANA), and the Arkansas Nurses Association (ARNA). She is a Legal Nurse Consultant and a Golden Life member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, Inc.

Joyce is married to Daryl Scott. They have a son, Ulysses, and two grandchildren, Brooklyn and Austin.